New restaurants to open in the Tri-Cities

Food will be on the minds of most of us this week as we celebrate Thanksgiving with our families tomorrow.

So, it sounds like a good time to review my trusty old “restaurant score card,” which means we take a look at what new places are popping up on the food radar.

It doesn't take much more than driving around the Tri-Cities to get a quick review of what's taking place on the food landscape.

Sanfratello's was getting a pretty good reputation for its pizza at 7 W. State St. in Geneva, so it stands to reason that the site's new name, Monterey Place, shouldn't change that. The phrase below the name on the building, in fact, proclaims “Great Pizza.”

If quick Chinese food suits you, the former Brown's Chicken restaurant on Lincoln Highway near the former Colonial Restaurant building on the west side of St. Charles will soon be Hibachi Express.

Burger joints are starting to sizzle again, as Smashburger, which I have mentioned before, opens Dec. 7 in Batavia at the former 3 Blinds location, near the empty Circuit City site, at Fabyan Parkway and Randall Road.

Another burger joint called Tom and Eddie's has opened on the northeast side of the Geneva Commons, as the restaurant rotation continues in that retail sector as different establishments have come and gone in many of the Commons locations.

And finally, with Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke saying that a high-quality restaurant is talking about opening in the shopping area off McKee and Randall, it leaves us to speculate about which restaurant that may be.

Even though I know both of these sites are not far from us in Naperville, I vote for a Maggiano's or a White Chocolate Grill. That's high-quality stuff in my mind.

An age-old question

If you are curious how a novel can become a stage production, who better to ask than a local writer whose novel will soon be a local play?

Bruce Steinberg, an author who lives in St. Charles and writes under the name Bee Robb, will read excerpts and discuss his latest novel “My Occasional Torment” at 7 p.m. Dec. 9 at the St. Charles Public Library.

Robb describes his novel as asking the question, “What makes a woman a woman, and how in the world would a man know the answer?”

With that universal question, it is no surprise that the stage play adaptation of the book has been picked up by Center Stage Theater in Naperville for a February, 2011 debut.

I mentioned Robb's first novel, “River Ghosts,” in the past, but he tells me, “There is much more going on in this one.”

Based on the premise, that seems to make sense.

Holiday crafts galore

This should get you in the holiday mood if your Thanksgiving meal Thursday doesn't quite do the trick.

“Christmas on the Fox Art and Craft Show” will take place Saturday and Sunday in the expo center of the Kane County Fairgrounds.

Cost is $2, but if you mention you saw the information about the show in the Daily Herald, they'll take a buck off.